Ghoul Beat Sheet
Beat Sheets are ways to gain extra beats (experience) to spend on your character, by delving further into the character's nuances and by giving storytelling staff more handles to interact with your character. Whenever a question asks you about someone from your past, you have the option of describing the relevant details and the interaction, but leaving them unnamed. This invites staff to match up the shadows in your past with the shadows in other PCs', giving another dimension of interaction. This Beat Sheet is for Ghouls only. Non-Ghoul characters may get up to five Beats from this sheet if there are questions that reasonably apply to them and have not been answered elsewhere. If you are too old to remember your firsts, or feel that those firsts happened too long ago to be relevant, think of your life as a cycle of highs and lows and answer the questions for the most recent cycle. Ghoul Beat Sheet (Thirty Beats) 'Lord and Master '(Five Beats) Who first ghouled you? What first attracted their attention to you? How did they do it? Tell the story. (Two Beats) Ghouls fall into basic categories (though of course your ''relationship with your regnant is unique and special and different). What kind of a ghoul are you? How do you serve your regnant? (One Beat) *Unique. You possess some quality or talent that is, quite simply, extraordinary. Your regnant gave you immortality because of vanity, curiosity, or obsession. You are exquisitely beautiful, your blood has some special property, a prophecy says some terrible fate will befall your regnant on the day you die. You are likely protected, sheltered from the mortal world and the Danse Macabre, too important to risk. *Specially trained. You have been trained to fulfill one role, which has become pretty much your entire life. You are a bodyguard, an adoring sex kitten, a biographer immortalizing your regnant in a book that will never be read. Whatever it is you do, you are excellent at it. *Well-Connected. You are the daytime face for your regnant, managing her mortal affairs and accumulating influence on her behalf. You are a lawyer, a business manager, a personal assistant, a nearly-identical body double. You live mostly in the human world, and it's your human ties and connections that make you useful to your regnant. *Companion. You keep your regnant company. Oh, there are other things, but what it comes down to is that she likes seeing herself through your eyes. You might even describe yourself as her friend. She describes you as a gentleman valet, a lady's maid, a chauffeur, but what you really are is a worshiper, a knight in your lady's service, a sympathetic ear. You are wherever she is, and you'll be wherever she needs you to be. The feelings induced by Vinculum are very much like those of falling in love, and frequently sexual in nature - but not all regnants form that sort of relationship with their ghouls, and those who do generally don't reciprocate the ghoul's affection as thoroughly as they might dream. What is the nature of your relationship? Is it what you want? Have you come to terms with any differences between the two? How? (One Beat) There is someone or something else in your regnant's life more important than you. Perhaps it's another ghoul, perhaps it's a vampire, perhaps it's a passion for art or politics. Whatever it is, you live and breathe your regnant's desires, and ''they don't love you best. ''Who do they love more than you? How do you feel about that person or thing? (One Beat) 'Meet Your Maker '(Two Beats) At some point, the veil was pulled back and you saw the World of Darkness for what it was. For many, this happened when they were ghouled. Others discovered what lay in the dark places before that, and some ghouls remained oblivious for much longer. Tell that story, and try to answer the following questions in the process: How did you respond when you saw the truth? Did you lie to yourself, and if so, what lie did you tell? If you didn't deny what was happening, how did you respond? Did you lash out to try to save yourself? Did you embrace this new world with open arms? (One Beat) Who was your maker? This is almost invariably the Kindred who ghouled you. Going forward, you compared every other Kindred against the model this Kindred created in your head, for good or ill. Who was this person? What were they like? How did they treat you? Are you still in their service? How do you feel about them now? (One Beat) 'Living in Two Worlds '(Five Beats) How much do you know about vampires and their society? How involved have you become? Have you met vampires other than your regnant? Do you know there are other ghouls like you? (One Beat) What was your life like before you were ghouled? Did you have a job? A family? What was important to you? (One Beat) Ghouls still need to eat and sleep, and frequently to hold down a job and provide for their family - something regnants very rarely take into consideration. What problems have you encountered as a result of your ties to your regnant? How have you dealt with them? (One Beat) How much do you still live in the human world? What are the most difficult parts about maintaining that life? (One Beat) Being a ghoul doesn't necessarily mean you give up all your own ambitions and desires. What do you want from your life? How do you intend to go about getting it? (One Beat) 'Dirty Deeds '(Five Beats) What is the worst thing your regnant has ever made you do? Did you balk at following his instructions? What happened, and how did you rationalize it to yourself? (One Beat) What is the worst thing your regnant has ever done to you? What happened, and how did you feel about it? (One Beat) Have you ever disobeyed an order your regnant gave you? Why did you disobey, and what happened? (One Beat) Being a ghoul inherently means giving up some control over your own life, but that's rarely an effortless transition. When was the first time you broke a rule you'd made to yourself, and how did you justify it? (One Beat) There's a cultural taboo you used to ascribe to back before you were ghouled that hasn't survived your regnant's training or treatment. Now you don't think twice about violating it. What was it? Was it difficult to overcome? Are you still ashamed, do you get a thrill out of the 'perversity' of it, or has it become everyday and ordinary? How do you feel when you look back on who and how you used to be? (One Beat) 'Cogs in the System '(Three Beats) What is your opinion of ghouls and the practice of ghouling in general? What place should they serve in vampire society? (One Beat) What is your opinion of humans, now that you're no longer strictly one of them? Do you envy them their innocence, perhaps, or pity them for never knowing a love as deep as yours? (One Beat) Your relationship with your regnant does not necessarily reflect your relationship with other vampires. What is your opinion of vampires in general? How do you prefer to interact with them? (One Beat) 'The Blood '(Six Beats) "Your feelings for your regnant are all artificial. They're the result of the bloodbond, nothing more." Respond to this statement. (One Beat) You are addicted to Vitae. How far or how low do you think you would go to get your next hit? How do you feel about being an addict? (Two Beats) What arrangement do you and your regnant have about Vitae? Are you fed on a schedule? Are you made to beg, or forbidden to ask? (One Beat) Do you ever feed from a vampire other than your regnant? Are there rules about that? What would happen if you did? (One Beat) What powers of the blood do you consciously know, and how freely do you spend the Vitae you're given? How confident are you that your regnant would feed you extra if you really needed it (say, to heal serious physical injury)? (One Beat) 'Planning for the Worst '''(Four Beats) If something were to happen to your regnant, what would become of you? Have you ever thought about it? Do you have standing orders from your regnant? (One Beat) For many ghouls, it's their destiny to be Embraced. Do you want to become a vampire? What do you imagine it might be like? (One Beat) Where do you see yourself thirty years from now? (One Beat) A vampire who is not your regnant gives you an order. You know your regnant would not like what they're asking you to do, but you're in immediate danger if you don't obey. What do you do? Why? (One Beat) Category:Beat Sheets Category:Ghouls